Spring has sprung!

 Hello everyone! We have had spring arrive in the Inland Northwest. Finally. Most of the snow is gone from our yard because we had two days of 70° weather last week. This week it’s back into the  40s’s and low 50’s, but I’ll be happy to take it. It’s not snowing! In fact, Dennis and I took Chloe for a walk on Saturday and look what I found a couple of blocks from our house. They were bravely poking up in a patch of bare ground away just feet away from the snow that was left in their yard.  It gives me hope.

We still have some snow in our yard, but most of it is gone. There are big piles all around town and we drove up to the lake on Saturday to check things out there. The lake is still frozen solid and there’s about 2 1/2 to 3 feet of snow all around the trailers. The season starts May 1, so I’m hoping it’s all melted by then. 

 I put some spring decorations out on the kitchen island. I crocheted these flowers several years ago and the bright colors always make me smile. 

 Several years ago I made an Easter egg tree out of a pussy willow branch. I bring it out every year in the spring time. 
 
 I found this happy little bunny family at Hobby Lobby last year along with my sheepy friends from fellow bloggers.  I have noticed they have the same bunny family this year if you want to get one for yourself. :-)

I’m working on a temperature blanket along with podcaster Anna in Berlin. I’ve always wanted to do one of these blankets but just never got started. I’ve chosen to crochet the blanket with the linen stitch and size I hook.  If you have never heard of a temperature blanket, the idea is that you knit or crochet a row for every day of the year using the color that you chosen for that temperature range. You choose either the high temperature or the low temperature of the day and you use that scale for the entire 365 days.  I have chosen to use the high temperature of the day. There are many websites you can go on to find the temperatures you need for any year. I have heard of people going back and making blankets for their grown children using the temperatures for each day of the year they were born. 

 This is my color chart. Please excuse the scribbles. I was trying to make the temperatures adjust more to our temperature ranges so the same color won’t be used over and over again.   After some thought, I also adjusted the top three colors because we rarely get above 100F.

 I am kind of surprised how much I’m actually enjoying crocheting this blanket. It only took me two days to catch up from January 1 to today.   And here is what it looks like right now.   You can see the two rows of bright yellow near the top that show the 70 degree days. 

  All of that blue! You can tell we had a lot of very cold days. 

The other thing I’ve been working on is using some of my scraps of dishcloth cotton and making dishcloths for the church kitchen.  For some reason they seem to disappear and so I thought I would make a batch up. This is what I have done so far.   My scrappy bin is still completely full  end it doesn’t look like I’ve used any yarn! I think it is a magical bin!

 Brad‘s parents are safely back home and they did not have water in their house. Although there was water all around the shed they keep their camper in, along with several other trailers belonging to family  and several classic cars, the water never got above the floorboards of the cars! A true miracle.

Most of the roads from Omaha to the west and north have major damage and are undrivable. It’s going to take a long, long time to repair the dams, levees, bridges and roads that were destroyed in a matter of hours.

Brad spent the weekend flying people in and out of towns in eastern Nebraska. We’re very proud of him and his dedication to helping others. So many people have lost so much and very, very few had flood insurance because it’s very difficult to get in this area. I have family who are farmers who definitely need our prayers. There are families who have lost farms that have been in their families for over six generations! Virtually everything is gone. Houses, livestock, equipment. Everything washed down river. I appreciate all of the concern that you have shown to the people in the Midwest. Please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers. 

Tomorrow I go to the cardiologist for my three month check. I haven’t been feeling very well the last several days and I have no idea what he’s going to tell me.  I have been having a lot of shortness of breath and tightness in my chest, so I if I could, may I ask for prayers for myself?   It probably has nothing whatsoever to do with my heart and more to do with being lazy! Ha! 

 I appreciate each and everyone of you. I’ve been trying to keep up with all of your blogs, but have been a bit “down in the dumps” for some reason, and just can’t seem to pull myself out of the funk.  Reading about the things that you’re doing and the crafts that you’re making brighten my days a lot. I count myself blessed to be able to call each of you my friends.

 I hope you’re all enjoying warmer weather and the promise of spring time up here in the northern hemisphere and for my friends down under, I hope you’re enjoying the last days of summer and early fall.

“ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5 

Many Blessings, 

Betsy